Today’s service is led by the Revd Andy Braunston
Welcome
Hello and welcome to worship. Today we look at the famous story of Elijah, on the run from justice after committing genocidal murder, engaging in a pity party thinking he’s the only one left who is faithful to God, and being corrected as his assumptions are turned upside down. God proving, again, that it’s not wise to try and contain God with our own expectations. We try and make sense of this story as we are tempted to wonder if we’re the only ones left who are faithful to God and prepare, like Elijah, to have our assumptions challenged. My name is Andy Braunston and I am the United Reformed Church’s Minister for Digital Worship; I live in Orkney where the wind is noisy and God’s presence is seen most clearly in nature’s majesty. Let’s worship God together.
Call to Worship
We come to worship You, O Most High,
that you may re-clothe us in our rightful minds.
We come to worship You, Risen Lord Jesus,
that we may confess the beauty of Your peace.
We come to worship You, Most Holy Spirit,
to hear you in silence, earthquake, wind, and fire.
We come to worship you, Eternal Trinity,
with deep reverent praise.
Hymn Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
John Greenleaf Whittier (1872) Public Domain. Sung by the choir of St Bartholomew’s Manhattan.
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
forgive our foolish ways;
re-clothe us in our rightful mind,
in purer lives thy service find,
in deeper reverence praise.
In simple trust like theirs who heard,
beside the Syrian sea,
the gracious calling of the Lord,
let us, like them, without a word
rise up and follow thee.
Drop thy still dews of quietness,
till all our strivings cease;
take from our souls the strain and stress,
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of thy peace.
Breathe through the heats of our desire
thy coolness and thy balm;
let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still small voice of calm.
Prayers of Approach, Confession, and Grace
We thirst for You, O Most High,
like deer that pant for refreshing streams.
We long for You, Lord Jesus,
the Living Bread which satisfies our hunger.
When shall we see You, Most Holy Spirit,
when we’re tormented by those who mock?
Forgive us, Good Lord,
when we expect You to be where we left You,
when we demand You to do as we say,
when we see ourselves as the only faithful members of Your people.
Forgive and remind us,
that you cannot be contained,
that wind and rain,
earthquake and calm,
fire and water,
silence and noise
are all as likely to be inhabited by You.
Forgive and remind us,
that your Church is not the only place where You are at work,
and that You call all to Your side.
Forgive us, and give us time to change. Amen.
The God of earthquake, wind, and fire,
the God of life refreshing streams,
the God of both noise and silence,
forgives where there is true repentance.
So accept the forgiveness on offer,
forgive others, and have the courage to forgive yourselves. Amen.
Prayer for Illumination
When we think we know best, O God,
open again Your Word to correct us.
When we expect You, reveal Yourself in surprising places.
When we are exhausted and grumpy,
refresh us with Your very self, revealed in Jesus,
and proclaimed in ancient and contemporary word. Amen
Reading 1 Kings 19:1-18
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. He ate and drank and lay down again. The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.” He got up and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. At that place he came to a cave and spent the night there. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” Then the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.’
Hymn Psalm 42
Dewey Westra, 1931 Public Domain. Sung by Michael Owens https://genevanpsalter.com/about/
As the hart, about to falter, in its trembling agony,
longs for flowing streams of water, so, O God, I long for Thee.
Yes, athirst for Thee I cry; God of life, O when shall I
come again to stand before Thee in Thy temple, and adore Thee?
Bitter tears of lamentation are my food by night and day.
In my deep humiliation “Where is now your God?” they say.
Oh, my soul’s poured out in me, when I bring to memory
how the throngs I would assemble, shouting praises in Thy temple.
O my soul, why are you grieving, why disquieted in me?
Hope in God, your faith retrieving: He will still your refuge be.
I again shall laud His grace for the comfort of His face:
He will show His help and favour, for He is my God and Saviour.
Sermon
We opened worship with the lovely hymn by John Greenleaf Whittier, Dear Lord and Father of Mankind. Like all great hymns the poetry of the words is enhanced by the beauty of the tune; it’s a favourite for many and the words are evocative of today’s reading. Whittier, however, would have been appalled to have his words set to music and sung as a hymn! He was an American poet who worked for the abolition of slavery and was heavily influenced by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Above all he was a Quaker. The hymn we know is from a longer poem called The Brewing of Soma and references how Vedic priests brewed and drank Soma to experience God and compares this to how some Christians use music, incense, dreary vigils and trance to experience God; a vain attempt according to Whittier hence his asking God to “re-clothe us in our rightful mind”. It’s rather ironic, then, that it was set to music and has become a much-loved hymn. The reference to the earthquake, wind and fire as well as the still small voice of calm is from our passage from 1 Kings which is also, like the hymn, taken out of context.
We hear that Elijah is on the run from the dreadful queen Jezebel but don’t dwell too much on why. Our passage notes Elijah had put the prophets of Baal to the sword. But if we read before this passage we read of Elijah’s showdown with those prophets when they were not able to perform miracles despite his taunting and show of miraculous strength. Elijah then had 450 prophets of Ba’al slaughtered. The hero of the passage is a murderer; the one who God speaks to in a still small voice was a master of grizzly spectacle and intemperate debate. The one who thought he was the only faithful prophet left was rather lacking in self-awareness.
The immediate context of the story is the political state of Israel at the time. Following Solomon’s death, the Jewish kingdom split into two – the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern Kingdom of Israel. The ten northern tribes set up their own monarchy with a capital in Samaria whilst the two southern tribes stayed loyal to David’s House and kept the capital, and temple, in Jerusalem. For 200 years or so they were the best of enemies sharing a faith and a history. The tales we have about Elijah are set in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab – nine centuries before Christ. Ahab, needing a foreign alliance, married Jezebel the daughter of the king of the Sidonians. As well as marrying a devout pagan he promoted the worship of the god Ba’al as part of his cosying up to his pagan neighbours. This promotion, and support, of paganism was anathema to the Jewish prophets who demanded the worship only of God. In this tense context Elijah taunts, traps and terrorises the hapless pagan prophets leading to him being on the run in today’s reading.
The key part of the passage is, after Elijah had been made to rest, eat, drink, his encounter with God. His encounter with God in the still small voice. The Liberal theologians of the 19th Century used the fact that God was not be found in earthquake, wind, and fire as an advance in humanity’s understanding of God who was personally accessible within the framework of human experience. The problem with this approach is that we start to imagine, and limit, when God is at work – holding, instead, that we need silence and calm to experience God. We need, they said, to avoid spectacle. This isn’t, however, the Biblical witness where God is always unexpected and often rather spectacular! On this occasion God was not where Elijah, that devotee of spectacle, might have expected but that doesn’t mean that God is always avoiding the dramatic.
Further, God also deals with Elijah’s other preconceptions. In chapter 18 Elijah is confident, bold, and rather irritating in the way that he taunts the pagan priests. There’s not the self-doubt and pity seen in this chapter where Elijah would rather die than face Jezebel’s justice and takes himself off to a cave to hide. He is not one of the Bible’s more likeable figures. God digs down into Elijah’s soul. God seems puzzled and asks why Elijah is there – God may think he should be back in Israel. Elijah, in need of a bit of pastoral supervision, isn’t very aware of his own context. He implies he’s the only one left who has stayed true to God but, instead, God gives Elijah the names of two people to anoint as kings and one person to anoint as a prophet in his place. Further God mentions there are 7,000 people in Israel who haven’t worshipped Ba’al. Elijah’s pity party seems a little misplaced as God breaks through and tells Elijah there is yet more work for him to do. There is a future for Elijah, and Israel, that can’t rationally be seen at this point in the story when all is doom and gloom.
The passage shows that faith, and experience, cannot be controlled or summoned and are as likely to appear in spectacle, earthquake, wind, or fire as in silence. God is not controlled by Elijah; instead, God breaks through Elijah’s preconceptions and experience to continue to commission him.
In Psalm 42, which we sung to the lovely Genevan tune used by Calvin, we have haunting imagery – of thirsty deer, joy and sorrow, and a search for God. It is, therefore, a fitting response to Elijah’s pity party in our first reading. The Psalmist thirsts for a God who seems beyond reach; maybe, like Elijah, the Psalmist was depressed. The poet is ridiculed by others for God’s absence (rather like Elijah ridiculed the pagan priests!) The poet longs for God to appear and for a religious experience like so many of our own generation do. Comfort is found in the memory of God’s deeds and recollection of worship in the Temple which seems, for now, inaccessible. Yet despite the depression the writer wants to rely on the God who is rock, help, joy and hope.
What then might we make of the Psalmist’s emotions and the murderous depressive prophet Elijah? Maybe, in the Church we can, like Elijah, be grumpy and complain that there’s no one left, no one coming, no one willing to serve on the rotas, no one ready to staff a Sunday school (if we’ve any kids to go to it), no one to sort out the building, no one to edit the newsletter, and no one to welcome newcomers. Maybe we can relate very well to Elijah’s pity party.
Might we be busy, like Elijah, in telling God how faithful we are (and, of course imply few, or no, others are as faithful.) Might we, like Elijah, not look to see who God is bringing to us? Do we seek God in the pristine silence of a dying Church? Are we brave enough, instead, to look for God in the movement, noise, and spectacle around us? Might we be too limiting in our notions of what spirituality should be, like John Greenleaf Whittier, rather than seeing where God is meeting his lost people? Might our memory of how glorious things were, be as faulty as our perception of things now?
Where might we find God, our rock, help, joy and hope, at work in our world? Can we go and join in?
Let’s pray
God of the earthquake,
Lord of the fire, Creator of the wind, Spirit of silence,
meet us even as we battle with our preconceptions,
move us even as we are resistant,
lift us even when we’re determined to stay glum,
and remind us, against our nature,
that You’ve not finished with us yet. Amen.
Hymn Many Are the Light Beams
Cyprian of Carthage (252)Translator, David Lewis © 1972, AF-Foundation. OneLicence # A-734713. Sung by members of the Pacific Spirit United Church, Vancouver, BC
Many are the light beams from one light. Our one light Jesus.
Many are the light beams from the one light; we are one in Christ.
Many are the branches of the one tree. Our one tree is Jesus.
Many are the branches of the one tree; we are one in Christ.
Many are the gifts giv’n, love is all one. Love’s the gift of Jesus.
Many are the gifts giv’n, love is all one; we are one in Christ.
Many ways to serve God, the Spirit is one; servant spirit of Jesus.
Many ways to serve God, the Spirit is one; we are one in Christ.
Many are the members, the body is one; members all of Jesus.
Many are the members, the body is one; we are one in Christ.
Affirmation of Faith
We believe in God, our Rock,
who defies our expectations and preconceptions,
who reclothes us in our rightful minds
when we’ve gone astray.
We believe in God, Enfleshed Word
who is our joy, hope, and help,
and who is found in spectacle and silence,
wind and water, fire and earth,
and in unexpected people in unexpected places.
We believe in God, Limitless Spirit,
who opens our eyes to surprising truth,
and moves us beyond the pristine silence of a dying church,
to see the faithful beyond our walls and limitations.
We believe in God, Eternal Trinity
ever lifting our sights,
ever stimulating our senses,
and ever moving us in mission. Amen.
Offertory
Elijah was exhausted by what he felt was his ministry; isolated and alone he sunk into despair only to be lifted by God’s giving of sleep, food, drink and a different perspective. We can be exhausted by all we do for the Church; the sheer load of keeping the show on the road, all the tasks we load ourselves with and often forget to refresh ourselves with the sustenance God gives us. As we give we remember that God does not need us; we need God. God builds the Church ever calling people to life and love, using our gifts of time, talent and treasure to build the radical Kingdom which is to come. So let’s give thanks for the gifts that have been given here – in the plate, direct to the bank, and gifts in kind of love and service.
God of every good gift, bless our efforts, feed our souls,
help us to rest in You and gain a fresh perspective. Amen.
Intercessions
We bring our prayers to God for a world in pain, confused and angry, suffering and perplexed, and for a Church needing to love and serve.
God of silence, we remember before You the needs of our world,
people on the move in search of safety,
people rebuilding shattered cities and dreams,
people meeting in secret because of how they love and live,
and ask for Your strength and loving kindness on all they do.
We remember those who dare to lead in our world
that they may pursue justice and integrity not riches and power,
that we may live in peace.
God, in your mercy…hear our prayer.
Earth moving God,
we pray for all seeking to make a positive difference in difficult times;
those working to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis,
those bringing health care to the poor and dispossessed,
those seeking to influence governmental policy for good,
those who uphold law and order,
and those who working for ever more just laws,
and ask for your strength and loving kindness in all they do.
We remember those who seek to do harm,
who enrich themselves at the expense of others,
who maim, wound and murder,
that they may face justice and themselves,
find ways to turn around, and give, and find, freedom.
God, in your mercy…hear our prayer.
God of wind, fire, and calm, we pray for Your Church
confused by the times,
forgetting to see where You are at work,
wanting to help but lacking in confidence.
We remember those who lead Your Church,
who offer vision and discernment
and who inspire us to see the work You have for us,
and ask You make us receptive to new perspectives.
God, in your mercy…hear our prayer.
Eternal Trinity,
We remember before you those we know in any kind of need….
God, in your mercy…hear our prayer.
We join our prayers together as we pray as Jesus taught…Our Father….
Hymn The Church of Christ in Every Age
Fred Pratt Green (1969) © 1971 Hope Publishing Company OneLicence. Played and sung by Gareth Moore and used with his kind permission.
The Church of Christ in every age
beset by change but Spirit led,
must claim and test its heritage
and keep on rising from the dead.
Across the world, across the street,
the victims of injustice cry
for shelter and for bread to eat,
and never live until they die.
Then let the servant Church arise,
a caring Church that longs to be
a partner in Christ’s sacrifice,
and clothed in Christ’s humanity.
For he alone, whose blood was shed,
can cure the fever in our blood,
and teach us how to share our bread
and feed the starving multitude.
We have no mission but to serve
in full obedience to our Lord:
to care for all, without reserve,
and to spread his liberating Word.
Blessing
May the One who can be found in both spectacle and silence,
whose voice sounds through fire, earthquake and wind,
whose perfume is ever in the air,
grant you the grace to find new perspectives,
to see things as they really are,
and to find assurance in your vocation.
And the blessing of Almighty God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Be with you now and evermore,
Amen.